WORCESTER’S premier swimming event was hosted by Worcester Swimming Club at the Sansome Walk pool — the 17th annual Open Meet competition which saw 300 swimmers competing from a dozen clubs with more than 2,000 individual swims.

Seventy club volunteers worked tirelessly to ensure the event ran smoothly and they were rewarded with some record-breaking individual swims as well as giving all the competitors the opportunity to improve their performance.

Worcester’s Olivia Fletcher won top girl with a sweep of nine golds and two silver medals, while Tabitha Monkhouse stormed through the girls skins, a knock-out competition where swimmers are handicapped based on their best recorded time.

The competitor who comes last in each race is eliminated each time until a winner is decided.

The swimmers were cheered on by a capacity number of spectators including the Mayor of Worcester, councillor Pat Agar, Worcester City councillor Roger Berry, and city MP Robin Walker.

Sadly the existing pool is not of the standard required to hold county competitions and its lack of capacity means that the club is having to turn potential swimmers away.

The club are campaigning for a proposed new city pool to have eight lanes in order to provide the needs of the whole of Worcester’s swimming community.

As things stand there is currently not a single pool in Worcestershire where a county swimming competition can be held.